DEAS/ 1124: 2022  
ICS 61.060  
 
© EA C 2022                                                                                                                           Edition 2022   
   DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
 
Belts Specification: Part 1 - Leather  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  
 
  DEAS/ 1124: 2022  
 
ii © EAC 2022  – All rights  reserved  
                                                       
                                                       Copyrigh t notice  
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© East African Community  2022 — All rights reserved  
East African Community   
P.O. Box 1096 , 
Arusha  
Tanzania  
Tel: + 255 27 2 162100  
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       Web: www.e ac-quality.net  
Reproduction for sales purposes may be subj ect to royalty payments or a licensing agreement.  
Violators may be prosecuted .  DEAS/ 1124: 2022  
 
© EAC 2022  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
Table of Contents  
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  1 
4 Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  2 
4.1 General Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 2 
4.2 specific requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 3 
5 Pack aging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  4 
6 Marking/ Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........  4 
Annex A  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............................  5 
  DEAS/ 1124: 2022  
 
iv © EAC 2022  – All rights  reserved  
  
 
Foreword  
Devel opment of the East African Standards has been neces sitated  by the need for harmonizing requirements 
governing quality of products and services in the East African Community. It is  envisaged that through 
harmonized standardization, trade barriers that are e ncountered when goods and services ar e exchanged 
within th e Community will be removed.  
The Community has established an East African Standards Committee  (EASC)  mandated to develo p and 
issue East African Standards  (EAS) . The Committee is composed of repres entatives of the National 
Standards B odies in Partn er Stat es, together with the representatives from the public and private sector 
organizations  in the community .  
East African St andards are developed through  Technical Committees that are representative of  key 
stakeholders including governmen t, academia, c onsumer  groups, private sector and other interested parties. 
Draft East African Standards are circulated to stakeholders through  the National Standards Bodies in the 
Partner States. The comments received a re discussed and incorporated before finalization o f stand ards, in 
accordance with the Principles and procedures for development of East African  Standards.  
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technological advances. Users of the  East 
African Standards are therefore  expected to e nsure t hat they always have the latest versions of the standards 
they are implementing .  
The committee responsible  for this docu ment is Technical Committee EASC/TC 063 , Leather and Leather 
Products  
Attenti on is drawn to the possibility that s ome of the ele ments o f this document may be subject of patent 
rights. EAC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent  rights.  
 DEAS/ 1124: 2022  
   
 
© EA C 2021  – All rights r eserved 
  
  
Belts Specificat ion: Part 1 - Leather  
 
 
 
 
1 Scope   
This Draft  East Africa n Standard specifies  the requiremen ts, sampli ng and test methods for leather belts.  This 
Draft Standard does not cover belts made from other  materials apart from leather  
 
2 Normative references   
The following documents are re ferred to in the text in such a way that some or all of thei r cont ent constitutes  
requirements of this document.  For dated reference s, only the edition cited applies. For  undated references, 
the latest edition of the referenced document (including an y amen dments) applies.  
ISO 3379:2015  Leather — Determination of di stensi on and strength  of surface (Ball burst method)  
ISO 4045:2018  Leather — Chemical tests — Determination of pH and difference figure  
ISO 11640:2018  Leather — Tests for colour fastness — Colour fastness to cycles of to -and-fro rubbing  
ISO 3376:2020  Leath er — Physical and mec hanical tests — Determination of tensile strength and percentage 
elongation  
ISO 11644:2022  Leather — Test for adhesion of finish  
 
 
3 Terms and defini tions  
For the purposes of this stan dard, the following definitions shall apply:  
 
3.1 Accept able  
accep table to the parties concluding  the purchase contract, but in relation to the standardization mark and to 
inspections ca rried out by the Bureau, acceptable to the East Africa  Standards  
3.2 Belt  
A strip of leather or material worn around t he wai st to support c loth or for decoration  
3.3 Lea ther 
It’s a material made fro m skins/hide s of an animal  by ta nning  
3.4 Tanning  
Process  of converting hides/skins  from putrescible ( liable to decay)  to non-putrescible  material   
2 © EAC 2022  – All rights  reserved  
  
 
4 Requirements  
4.1 General Requir ements  
 
4.1.1 Leather  
 
 
The leather shall be free from defects and  comply with requirements  specified in Table 1.  
 4.1.2  Sewing threads  
 
. The sewing threads should be of accept able quality  
 
4.1.3 Metal components  
 
4.1.3.1 General  
 
All metal compone nts, w hether function al or decorative, shall be of an intrinsically corro sion-resistant metal or 
shall have been c oated  to render them r esistant to corrosion.  They shall be of adequate size and strength for 
their intended function.  The ir design shall be such t hat, when close d, no sharp edges, prongs or decorative 
shapes  protrude.  
 
4.1.3.2 Buckles  
 
Buckles may have on e or more prongs, or may be of the plain or ro ller type, or be slide buckles.  The width of 
a buckle shall be such as to en sure an acceptable fit with the  belt to which it is attached.  
 
4.1.3.3  Closure fitting s 
 
Spring -loaded closure fittings or clas ps, whe n relevant, shall be as required, but shall be of acceptable design.  
 
4.1.3.4  Press studs  
 
Press studs shall be of the mal e and female type a nd sha ll have a tenac ious grip.  
 
4.1.3.5  Rivets  
 
a) All rivets  shall be securely and neatly attached and of sufficient length to allow the caps to be fir mly 
clinched  
 
4.1.4  Type, design and size of belts  
 
4.1.4.1  Type  
 
The belts shall be of one of the followi ng typ es (or acceptab le modifications of these ty pes), as  requir ed: 
 
a) Type A  — Belts of leather and of unlined construction, incorporating a buckle or a closure fitting.  
 
b) Type B  — Belts of leather and lined with  leather,  incorporating a buckle or a closure fitting; or 
 
c) Type C  — Belts of reversible constru ction, i ncorpor ating a buckle or a closure fitting.  
  
© EAC 2022  – All rights reserved  3 
 Belts shall be supplied in sizes 87 cm, 92 cm, 97 cm, 102 cm, 107 cm or i n other si zes, as agreed between 
the buyer and the seller  
 
4.1.5  Construction  of Lining  and interlinin g 
 
4.1.5 .1 Belts of type B shall be lined with leather that complies w ith the req uirements of 4.1.1.  
 
4.1.5.2 Belts of type B and of type C may be interlined with fabric o r other acceptable interlining material.  
 
4.1.6  Strength of belts 
 
Finished belts, wh en tested in accordance with 7.8 shall have a  breaking strength of at least 400 N. 
 
4.1.7  Riveting  
 
All rivets shall be securely and neatly attached and of sufficient leng th to allow the caps to be firmly clinched.  
 
4.1.9  Workmanship a nd fin ish 
 
Workmanshi p and finish shall be in accordance with sound trade practice.  Belts shall  be clean, well made, 
and free from any defects that affect th eir appearance or that m ay affect their serviceability (or both).  Sewing 
shall be uniform, and do uble r ows of stitchin g shal l be uniform unless intended to be otherwise.  
 
4.2 specific requireme nts 
4.1.2 Leather material   
The physic al and chemical proper ties shall comply with t he requireme nts given in Table 1, when tested in 
accordance with test method s spec ified therein.  
  
 
 Table1 -physical  and chemical requirements for leather belts  
Property  Requirements  Test methods  
 sub-clause  
Shrinkage temperature , oC, min.  
  
75  
ISO 3379  
Grease conte nt (on a moi sture -free basis), % 3.0 to 12.0  
pH value, min.  4.5-5.5  
ISO 4045  
Resistance to wet and dry ru bbing a fter 50 rubs  
Grain side (all leathers ), permissible colour change, rating, min.  
Flesh side (leather for type A belts only), permissible colour 
transfer, rating , min.  
4 
4  
ISO 11640  
Adhesion of finish , N, m in. 
Dry 
Wet  
3.5 
2.0  
 
ISO 11644  
   
Tensile strength  N/mm2min. 20  
ISO 3376  
Elonga tion at break %,  30 - 80 ISO 3376   
4 © EAC 2022  – All rights  reserved  
  
 
 
 
5 Pack aging 
The belts sh all be pack aged  in individual suita ble material  and th en so pack aged , in suitable bulk containers, 
so as to  protect them f rom damage during transportation and storage.  
 
The belt shall be packed in suitable mat erial so as to protect them from  damage during transportation and 
storage.  
 
 
6 Marking / Labelling  
 
6.1 Individual Belts 
 
Each belt  shall be nea tly, legibl y and indelibly  marked with the following information:  
 
a) The manufacturer’s  name, trade  name or trade mark;  
b) The batch identification;  
c) The siz e 
d)  The country of ori gin 
e) The colour  
 
6.2 Bulk  Package   
 
The fo llowing information shall appear in ne at, legib le an d indelible mark ing on the outside of each bulk 
container:  
 
a) The manuf acturer’s name, trade name or trade mark;  
b) the n umber of belts  
c) The country of origi n 
 
. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
© EAC 2022  – All rights reserved  5 
  
 
 
 
Annex A  
 (normative)  
 
Methods of sampling a nd criteria for acceptance  
A.1 Scale  of sampling  
A.1.1  Samp les shall be selected and exa mined for each lot sepa rately for ascertaining the conformity of the 
belts to the requirements of this standa rd.  
A.1.2  A belt shall be considered  to be of differ ent lots if they differ in shape, colour,  and design.  
A.1.3  The number of belts to be selected from any lot shall depe nd on the size of the lot and shall be in 
accordance with Column s 1 and 2 of Table A.1.  
A.2 Method of selection  
A.2.1  belt to be selected from the lot shall be chosen at random.  To ensur e randomness th e procedure in 
A.2.3 shall be u sed.  
A.2.2  When the belts in a lot are not packed in a number of cases  (boxes), the sampling shall be as follows:  
Starting from any  belt in the  lot, count the belts as 1,2, etc ---up to r and so on in  one orde r. Every r th piece 
thus counted shall be withd rawn to constitute a sa mple (r is the integral part of N/n wher e N is the lot size and 
n is the sample size). This procedure  shall be stopped as  soon as the required number of piece s is obtained.  
For example,  if a sample of  125 belts is to be selected fro m a lot of 3 000 belts, compute r as equal to integral 
part of 3  000/125=24. Starting from any piece , the belt shall be co unted in one order and  every 24th piece  
shall be withdrawn.  
A.2.3  When the belts in a lot are packed in different cases (boxes), a su itable number of boxes (not less than 
30 % of the total boxes in the lot) shall be first chosen at random. For each of the boxes so chosen, an 
approximately equal number of belts shall be picked up fr om its di fferent parts s o as to obtain the required 
numb er of belts. For exampl e, if a lot consists of 1 000 belts packed in 50 boxes, each containing 20 belts, 
choose more than 15 boxes at random. If  it is decided to open 20 boxes, then 4 belts shall be p icked up from 
different parts of each of the 20 box es to  give a total of 80 pieces as specified in Table A.1.  
  
Table A .1 — Scale of sampling and permissible number of defects  
 
Number of belt s in 
a lot Samples for 
visually observed 
defects ( Piece s) Permis sible num ber 
of defectiv es 
(Piece s) Sample siz e for 
laboratory testing 
(Piece s) Permissible number 
of defects ( Piece s)  
6 © EAC 2022  – All rights  reserved  
 (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) 
Up to 50  13 0 2 0 
51 to100  20 1 3 0 
101 to 300  32 1 3 0 
301 to 500  50 2 5 1 
501 to 1 000  80 3 6 1 
1 001 to 3 0 00 125 5 7 2 
3 001 and above  200 7 8 3 
 
A.3 Defects  
All randomly selected belts (Table A.1, Column 2) shall be i nspected for visually observed defects, i.e:  
a) difference in shape, design and colour;  
b)  distorted shapes;  
c)cracking defects ; 
d) faulty jointing and adhesion ; 
e) broken stitches and incorrect  stitching;  
f) Fasteners  defects in buckles and  studs ; 
g) Grain  damage ; 
h) Broken  thread s ; 
i) finish not even and unpolished .  
 
A.4 Acceptance criteria  
The number of defective belts  shall not exceed the perm issible number g iven in T able A.1, Column  3. If the 
number of defective piece s exceeds the permissible number of defectives, the lot shall be rejected.  
In case the lot has been found satisfactory for visually observed defects, sam ple piece s for la boratory  testing 
(Table A.1, Column  4) shall be t aken from among those drawn (Table A.1, Column 2). The piece s shall b e 
chosen at random and tested f or dimensional, physical and chemical characteristics. If the number of 
defective belts is less than or equ al to the  corresponding permissib le number of defe ctives given in Table A.1, 
Column 5, the lot shall be declared to hav e met the requirements of t his standard. Otherwise,  if the defective 
belt piece s are more than the corresponding permissib le numbers of d efectives , the lot shall  be rej ected.